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Whenever my family eats anything too oily or with too much fat, they get diarrhea right away. So they naturally avoid eating too much fat and like carbs instead.

I don't have any digestion issues with eating lots of fat. I am just wondering what is it about fat that causes digestion problems?

I have the same problem as your family. When I started Primal my diet was about 60% fat 25% protein and 15% carbs. Fats I ingested were, grass fed meat fat, butter, avocado, olive oil, fish oil, full fat natural yoghurt, coconut oil and ghee. I had severe diarrhea. I also have IBS and fats have been known to irritate the condition. Maybe over time it could have gotten better, but I have a job, a family and a life to live and I certainly wasn't going to endure that every day. So I dropped the fat, increased carbs and now feel a whole lot better.

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I have problems with non-primal oils or too much coconut oil. But not with primal fats. How much fat can they handle before becoming ill?

There is no need to go super high fat if it is not working.

My stomach gets a bit funny with too much coconut milk, but not coconut oil. I have no problems with primal fats so far. I could eat really high fat and feel fine, at least a lot better than high carb.

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There is absolutely NO need to eat ridiculous amounts of fat. When you do eat fat make sure it's good (primal approved) fat. If your body does not like something, evaluate how healthy it is and, if you think it's a positive addition to your diet, introduce it SLOWLY.

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Yeah, Fried food never agreed with me when I was pre-primal. There is absolutely no need to eat deep fried food (especially when the oil unlikely from an animal source, olive oil or coconut oil). Keep your fats primal. I definitely wouldn't consider the typical Western Chinese restaurants to be primal (unless it was a traditional Chinese restaurants where you could make good choices such as roasted duck, steamed frog, roasted goose, pig or chicken, taro, bok choi, etc...)

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I experienced this too, and still do. One thing my gastrointestinal doc told me in my case, was that being gluten sensitive can also mean that your body has a hard time processing ALL nutrients, including fats. Now that I eat more fats than I used to, I get what you're talking about (including gray, floating stools - sorry again ladies ). As things heal, that's expected to go away. Before I cut out gluten and went primal, I'd have diarrhea 4, 5, 6 times a day, literally. Now, it's once every couple days sometimes as often as once or twice a day, usually depending on if I've had beer recently, which until the doctor tells me to cut out completely, I'm gonna have it once a week.

Anyway, it's not necessarily the fact that you're consuming fat that is causing the diarrhea. When I FIRST went paleo, I had it a LOT and it was because of all of the lettuce and other leafy greens I started consuming massive amounts of overnight. After a few weeks, my body adjusted to that. So be aware it could be the result of gluten sensitivity. If your gut has damage, it's harder for it to absorb any nutrient, even if you're overweight, since it leads some people to eat more in order to try and not starve at the cellular level.

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I experienced this too, and still do. One thing my gastrointestinal doc told me in my case, was that being gluten sensitive can also mean that your body has a hard time processing ALL nutrients, including fats. Now that I eat more fats than I used to, I get what you're talking about (including gray, floating stools - sorry again ladies ). As things heal, that's expected to go away. Before I cut out gluten and went primal, I'd have diarrhea 4, 5, 6 times a day, literally. Now, it's once every couple days sometimes as often as once or twice a day, usually depending on if I've had beer recently, which until the doctor tells me to cut out completely, I'm gonna have it once a week.

Anyway, it's not necessarily the fact that you're consuming fat that is causing the diarrhea. When I FIRST went paleo, I had it a LOT and it was because of all of the lettuce and other leafy greens I started consuming massive amounts of overnight. After a few weeks, my body adjusted to that. So be aware it could be the result of gluten sensitivity. If your gut has damage, it's harder for it to absorb any nutrient, even if you're overweight, since it leads some people to eat more in order to try and not starve at the cellular level.

Thank you so much for this info. I know I have gut damage and have been told that I am malnourished (despite being 60 pounds overweight). This would explain why
I also get really bad tummy issues with the extra fats, maybe I will just increase gradually......

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My sister has this problem with diarrhea. She eats little in general (mostly processed food) because she puts on weight easily, and wants to stay slim. She's seen specialists about it but they couldn't find anything wrong, and concluded she's stressed.

I experienced this too, and still do. One thing my gastrointestinal doc told me in my case, was that being gluten sensitive can also mean that your body has a hard time processing ALL nutrients, including fats. Now that I eat more fats than I used to, I get what you're talking about (including gray, floating stools - sorry again ladies ). As things heal, that's expected to go away. Before I cut out gluten and went primal, I'd have diarrhea 4, 5, 6 times a day, literally. Now, it's once every couple days sometimes as often as once or twice a day, usually depending on if I've had beer recently, which until the doctor tells me to cut out completely, I'm gonna have it once a week.

Anyway, it's not necessarily the fact that you're consuming fat that is causing the diarrhea. When I FIRST went paleo, I had it a LOT and it was because of all of the lettuce and other leafy greens I started consuming massive amounts of overnight. After a few weeks, my body adjusted to that. So be aware it could be the result of gluten sensitivity. If your gut has damage, it's harder for it to absorb any nutrient, even if you're overweight, since it leads some people to eat more in order to try and not starve at the cellular level.

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I second the gluten sensitivity comments. Something else to consider is gut flora. I've had a SIBO (small intestinal bacteria overgrowth) in the past, and it can damage the intestines--I became even more lactose intolerant than I already was, and I seriously malabsorbed fats. I wasn't Primal but had cheated seriously over the holidays. I was generally low carb/high protein at the time, and after the round of antibiotics, what helped me was to eliminate all dairy, sugar/wheat/carbs/starches (they feed the bacteria), and take probiotics. Now that I've gone Primal, the only fats that still tend to get me are the bad oils (canola, soybean, etc.) and occasionally coconut oil if I overdo it. Animal fats seem to be fine with me. I've had flare-ups since then (it's usually after I've gone off the wagon and indulged in too much sugar/carbs/starch) but thankfully just increasing my probiotics by adding kefir or fermented foods and going strict with the sugar/carbs/starch squelches it. Once I'm healed, I can handle small amounts of starchy carbs--usually sweet potatoes, occasionally white rice, but seriously overdoing it results in gut issues again.